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hay poke advice needed

Sweet Potato

Sweet Potato

Adult Guinea Pig
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Gundam a 1.5 year old piggie was just going back to his cage after floor time and I noticed his eye was swollen and had gone a cloudy blueish colour with a yellowy white discharge around the eye. I wiped over his eye with a damp cloth and was able to remove a piece of hay from his upper eyelid. His eye is still a blueish grey colour so I am worried it has scratched the surface or caused some sort of damage to the eye.

I will call the vets in the morning but given the current events I will only be able to take him to my nearest vet which is not an exotics specialist and I will not be able to do so until tomorrow morning at the earliest. I may try calling the nearest guinea pig savvy vet for advice but I will not be able to get him there for an appointment.

Does anyone have any advice at all. Anything I can be doing to keep him comfortable and safe until we can make it to a vet? Or any advice on what to expect from my vet?
 
Sweet Potato said:
Gundam a 1.5 year old piggie was just going back to his cage after floor time and I noticed his eye was swollen and had gone a cloudy blueish colour with a yellowy white discharge around the eye. I wiped over his eye with a damp cloth and was able to remove a piece of hay from his upper eyelid. His eye is still a blueish grey colour so I am worried it has scratched the surface or caused some sort of damage to the eye.

I will call the vets in the morning but given the current events I will only be able to take him to my nearest vet which is not an exotics specialist and I will not be able to do so until tomorrow morning at the earliest. I may try calling the nearest guinea pig savvy vet for advice but I will not be able to get him there for an appointment.

Does anyone have any advice at all. Anything I can be doing to keep him comfortable and safe until we can make it to a vet? Or any advice on what to expect from my vet?
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Hi!

Please have him seen as quickly as possible. Eye treatment and medication is the same as for dogs and cats, so any vet will do. Speed is of essence since eyes can deteriorate very quickly.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

Please have him seen as quickly as possible. Eye treatment and medication is the same as for dogs and cats, so any vet will do. Speed is of essence since eyes can deteriorate very quickly.
Click to expand...

they aren't open until 8:00am tomorrow and this doesn't count as enough of an emergency to qualify for their out of hours service but I will try to get him in as soon as I can in the morning
 
Sweet Potato said:
they aren't open until 8:00am tomorrow and this doesn't count as enough of an emergency to qualify for their out of hours service but I will try to get him in as soon as I can in the morning
Click to expand...

What you can do - unless the vet is prescribing a lubricant together with the antibiotic eye drops - is getting some plain tear gel from a pharmacy and apply it up to 6 times in 24 hours but always waiting for 30-60 minutes after any eye med in order to allow them to be fully absorbed. Plain artificial tear drops will do in a pinch, but they are not as easy to apply and don't last as long. They are important for eye hydration, supporting the healing process especially deeper in the eye and general comfort (itchiness).
My vet now prescribes tear gel as a matter of course; in my own ample experience with hay pokes, it really makes a difference with the healing process.

Also ask your vet for metacam (painkiller as well as anti-inflammatory re. swelling).

All the best!
 
Wiebke said:
What you can do - unless the vet is prescribing a lubricant together with the antibiotic eye drops - is getting some plain tear gel from a pharmacy and apply it up to 6 times in 24 hours but always waiting for 30-60 minutes after any eye med in order to allow them to be fully absorbed. Plain artificial tear drops will do in a pinch, but they are not as easy to apply and don't last as long. They are important for eye hydration, supporting the healing process especially deeper in the eye and general comfort (itchiness).
My vet now prescribes tear gel as a matter of course; in my own ample experience with hay pokes, it really makes a difference with the healing process.

Also ask your vet for metacam (painkiller as well as anti-inflammatory re. swelling).

All the best!
Click to expand...

thanks I'm really worried about the poor little guy I hope he's not in too much pain but he's really not acting himself and I'm worried he can't see out of his bad eye at all.
 
Sweet Potato said:
we have an appointment for 11:30am today.
Click to expand...

All the best!

Please raise the points mentioned in my previous with the vet you are seeing if they are not covering them automatically.
 
the vets have delayed the appointment until 3:30pm because they had an emergency appointment to deal with. Gundam is acting a bit more normal now other than occasionally jumping at things that have been right in front of him for a while which makes me think he has completely lost his vision in that eye for now. I've taken the ramp out of the cage so he doesn't fall but other than that I feel a bit helpless until we can see the vet. his cage mate is getting frustrated that Gundam isn't responding to his body language and has been rumble strutting and head tossing a lot more than normal but I just don't think he understands that poor Gundam can't see him.
 
Gundam was such a good boy for the vet. He has been given 2 different eye drops to be given 3 to 4 times a day. One is an antibacterial eye drop and the other is a lubricant. He has also been given loxicom which I have been told is basically the same as metacam to be given once a day. We've got to go back on Tuesday to check everything is ok but for now he is just happy to be back in the cage with spud.
 
Here’s hoping that with your prompt action the eye will heal very quickly for him.
 
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